Fr. Jacques Hamel, aged 86 was slaughtered while saying Mass in Normandy. Some reports use the word, "beheaded". There are not a whole lot of practicing Catholics in France anymore except for Traditionalists so I'm guessing there were few people at the morning Mass. The French can't comfort themselves with platitudes or tell themselves to simply avoid crowds or sinful venues and everything will be okay. Fr. Hamel's murderer was making a statement, a territorial claim. His people are at war. They are not leaving anybody alone. So here we are. Fr, Hamel is not going to be the last victim. The monster is out of the bag and even taking his funding away and cutting his Internet access isn't going to put him back. What was done to our fellow Catholics in the Middle East is going to be done in the West. God have mercy. Eternal rest grant until Fr. Jacques O Lord, let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Pray for us, St. Perfectus.
An elderly woman lost her Faith back in the early Novus Ordo years. She never goes to Church now. Her greatest love in life was her dog and now the dog is dead. In her grief she wrote that dear Fluffy has gone over the Rainbow Bridge and her "fur baby" is waiting for her on the other side. I was tempted to say, "Ma'am your dog did not cross the rainbow bridge to Asgard. Fluffy is not running around in Valhalla chasing squirrels all day and feasting all night at the side of Thor and Odin. Your dog doesn't have an immortal soul and is not waiting for you." Others gently tried to say that animals don't have immortal souls but were ignored. I just had to marvel at the destruction that has been wrought in our church for most of my life.
When did World Youth Day become a standard part of the Church's year? Do we really need dancing nuns, rapping monks and pop music to minister to the young?
Don't be scared to put on a veil in the presence of Our Lord if you are moved to do so. When I first started wearing my mantilla to Mass there was a woman who used to glare at me and whisper to her mean girl posse. I was stung at first then I just looked away and kept on praying. They all left for different Mass times, or different parishes. I'm still here and I'm not the only one at my Mass time who veils.
